In 1999 the movie “The Matrix” came out for the first time. It received a lot of positive feedback for its over the top special effects and “bullet time” or slow motion action during the fight scenes, which at that point wasn’t seen a lot or at all for that matter in other movies. I remember watching the movie and looking past all the glitz and explosions. The movie had a message and despite all the special effects the message is what stayed with me long after the movie was over. The movie was about humans going through their everyday lives on planet earth oblivious to the fact that they were living in a simulated reality created by machines. Our “reality” really wasn’t what we were seeing every day. The earth actually was destroyed in the movie, all of the cities were rundown and even the sun was blotted out because of “the war to end all wars”. The only reason humans were kept alive was because their energy was being used as a feeding source for the machines. The main character in the Matrix was living his life like everyone else in this made up world. The difference was he was always questioning his existence and knew that there was more out there than what he was seeing. Long story short a group of people that had already disconnected themselves from this computer program and saw the world for what it really was contacted him and helped him see the truth. The truth was that the world wasn’t what it seemed, and for about half the movie this character struggled coming to grips with the fact that all he knew up to that point was fictional. Everything he knew about the world was from what society told him it was.

This movie brought up a lot of questions for me. Would I ever know if I was in the Matrix? If I did would I try to change my thinking or would I go on waking up and living in this made up reality? What we see and hear makes up our reality today. Through the newspaper, internet, TV news, and talk radio shows we formulate our opinion on what’s going on in the world. We wake up every day, get into our routine, and come home go to sleep and start it again. Whatever the government says must be true so we stop questioning it, we lose the curiosity that we had as a child that sometimes got us in trouble when we were little. Talk to a 3yr old one day and then count how many times he/she ask you why?? Why is it that color? Why can’t I pet the doggy? Why does the bird fly? The answer “because it does” isnt going to work because that child needs to know.

As we get older and we forget to ask questions. Sometimes questions cause waves, they cause confrontation, and a lot of people these days would rather just go with the flow and not stir up any trouble. When JFK was assassinated despite all the evidence proving that not only was there more than one bullet that killed him but that there was a major cover up, people eventually believed what the government told them. One bullet, no conspiracy, go on living the rest of your life. It bothers me to this day that the “real” information about JFK still hasn’t been released due to the fact that there might be some people still living that could be linked to the assassination.

In 1938 millions of people were shocked when they listened to a radio broadcast that said that Martians were invading the earth and taking over. Back then the radio was the only news source. People ran out of their houses screaming, while other packed up their bags and started leaving their homes. What those listeners heard was only a portion of a book called “War of the Worlds” that was being read by Orson Wells at the time. During that era many believed whatever they heard on the radio and responded like there was actual attack on the earth.

Now think about the present day. What if we woke up tomorrow morning and heard that aliens were taking over the earth. The president came on TV and had a special announcement to barricade your doors and stock up on can goods, water etc. There would be chaos all over our country. We go as the media goes and whatever is said through the media might as well be scripture. But who controls the media? Who tells them what to put out there for us to see? If you don’t think it’s the government than you need to take a closer look at what’s going on around you. Are you living in the Matrix or do you try to see the world for what it really is?

It’s ok to question, it’s ok to be curious, it’s ok to want answers. I will never forget where I was on Sept 11, 2001. I just dropped my cousin off the college and heard on a radio station that one of the towers was hit by an airplane. When I got home I saw the second tower get hit and then just like millions of other people across the country I stayed in front of my TV. and watched all day until both towers fell. I saw people jumping to their deaths because of smoke inhalation and watched news reporters on the ground and news helicopters in the air cover the whole thing from morning till night. I wondered how someone could pick up a microphone and camera during all the craziness around them. You figure with the reporter and camera man alone you have two extra bodies to try and help others that needed it but they had to get the story out.  Immediately war propaganda commercials followed the aftermath. Commercials linking Sadaam Hussein to the attack and saying how we must go to war to stop this tyrant. What did we do? America brought into it full bore and we sent our troops over to Iraq, only to find out later that Al Qaeda was behind the attacks on Sept 11th.

No one questioned what was going on until the aftermath was over. People that did question anything lost their jobs or were deemed conspiracy theorist and we woke up and went about our normal day trying to make ends meet.

“Never question if your questions should be answered, instead question why there not”

It’s ok to go against the norm. Parents tell their kids “be yourself” all the time but do the parents follow the same advice? We live in a cookie cutter world with only a few types of cookies inside the box.

“Remember sometimes you have to disconnect to connect”